in less than 12 hours, president obama and mitt romney will go toe-to-toe in their first presidential debate in the battleground state of colorado. joining us now, ed connor, a former partner at bain capital and author of "unintended consequences," and howard dean, cnbc contributor. >> jay-z. >> now, i was wondering whether this was a fair fight. i was thinking you're a poor businessman, this guy was head of the dnc, he's a governor, a professional arguer. i know this for a fact. let's get started. >> you're terrible. >> i heard that. >> we're going to get in an argument over which one of our guys is the worst debater ever. >> i love what we're seeing. >> yeah, i think you're right. i'll start with you, governor, what do you expect for tonight? >> i think this is an opportunity, always an opportunity for the challenger because he gets to stand on the stage with the president of the united states and look presidential. he's got a little bit of a tough road because he's got to push the president without looking like he's being unfairly aggressive, you know, as the al gore, you were maki